Mirror
by Sebastian the Mercat
Summary: When he looked at Nathan's traumatized face, he couldn't help but see a little bit of himself. Sort of mentor relationship between David Madsen and Nathan Prescott.


**_Salutations! In this fic, I went with the headcanon/theory that Jefferson and Sean Prescott are working together, and Nathan is playing a double agent for David. Yeah. And it's also one of my headcanons that both Jeffuckson and Sean Preshit are abusive mothafuckas, so yeah._**

 ** _Important Note: This was published previous to the release of episode 5~_**

David Madsen glanced up from the maps of the school he was going over, hearing a quiet knock on the door to the Security Guard's office. He frowned, his eyebrows furrowing, before barking out a gruff, "Yes?"

He expected a reply, not the door to open a crack, a bright blue eye peaking through.

David felt his expression soften against his will, before he turned back to the maps. When there were no sounds of footsteps entering the room, he said, "Well, don't just stand there - someone might see."

Nathan Prescott quickly and quietly followed his not-orders, slipping in and silently closing the door.

David continued staring down at the maps, though he wasn't really looking at them, at that point. He was more so honing his extra sensory skills, trying to see what sort of vibes the young man was giving off.

As always, the boy radiated this constant feeling of fear and anxiety, crashing against a liberal dose of hostility. He shifted constantly, his fingers spastically tapping against the pockets of his jeans, or fiddling with the hem of his jacket.

When it appeared the boy was not going to speak without prompting, David sharply said, "Well, Prescott? What do you need?"

There was silence for a long, excruciatingly long moment, before a quiet, nearly silent whimper was heard.

David squeezed his eyes shut, forcing himself to remain calm, before he turned around to face the young man.

Nathan had his arms wrapped around his torso, shivering, with his eyes squeezed shut. His teeth had sunk into his lip so violently, that they drew blood.

And worst of all, there was a suspicious bruise forming on the boy's cheek. David had a good idea where it came from.

The sound came again, and then yet again. Finally, the boy sunk to his knees, curling up, as he sobbed his heart out.

"I...I can't do this...anymore," he whispered breathlessly, rocking back and forth. "I...can't do it, Mr. Madsen..."

David Madsen felt a very acute pain settle in the bottom of his heart at watching the too-thin, too-pale boy shiver and shake, his eyes begging for something David was sure he could not give.

After all, he could not provide what Nathan needed, and not only for obvious reasons - David was not a good person all the time, and he knew this. He himself had hit his own stepdaughter before (granted, he regretted it deeply, and was doing everything in his power to make it up to her). But regardless, he knew he couldn't provide the sort of comfort Nathan needed o get through his current crisis.

After all, the sort of comfort Nathan needed was a comfort only a father could provide. And Nathan's father...David's eyes honed in on the darkening bruise...well, Nathan's father was one of the reasons Nathan needed comforting in the first place.

Nathan's eyes desperately sought out David's. "I c-can't! I can't d-do this anymore! I'm...I'm falling apart, Mr. Madsen!"

David closed his eyes shut tightly. Yes, it was obvious that Nathan was falling apart - in fact, David wouldn't be surprised if the next time he opened his eyes, the boy was nothing more than a pile of body parts on the floor.

When David first began his job as a security guard, he hated every student that came through - they all seemed so...the same, to him: Pretentious, entitled, bratty...

David had expected nothing more out of the Prescott boy, especially considering his family's standing within the town.

What he got, however, was not that.

The first time Nathan came bursting into his office, the boy was an absolute wreck. His body was shaking horribly, his eyes were wide and terrified, and he could not form a coherent thought - he merely crawled over to the corner of the room, curling up into a ball as he rocked himself back and forth.

And then Mark Jefferson came in, saying he was to retrieve the boy. David stepped back, allowing him to, but watched closely as Nathan flinched away from the other man, the tears rolling down his face even quicker.

That was mainly the beginning of David's distrust of Jefferson.

That was also the beginning of his helping Nathan.

When the boy returned after that initial visit, he apologized for acting "so stupid", keeping his head bowed. However, when David demanded the boy look at him, he was almost half-way expecting the terrified, desperate eyes that burned in his sockets.

They created a pact of sorts: Information for protection, mostly. After all, David had an investigation to be running, and Nathan was, essentially, an inside man.

Early on, David thought it would be easy to use the boy. As time went on, though, he found it rather hard to keep his distance.

Nathan was so utterly terrified of everything, and on top of that, the boy was suffering from mental illness, in addition to the nearly daily trauma of being David's double agent. David knew this was all taking its tole on the young boy, and he also knew that - without him - the boy surely would have had a mental breakdown.

Nathan was a very...needy sort of teenager, but that was to be expected: His father was an abusive asshole, Jefferson was just as bad, if not worse (by his suspicions)...two out of the three people that could be considered father figures in Nathan's life made it their goal to hurt him.

David knew that Nathan relied - perhaps too much - on him. Nathan was constantly sending him emails about how safe David made him feel, about how grateful he was for everything David did for him, for the school...

And then there were instances like this, where Nathan burst into his office, looking like the world was ending, and would have these horrible breakdowns...which would in turn cause this sort of unending pain to well up within David.

He opened his eyes, staring down at Nathan. The boy was curled up in the middle of the floor, rocking from his toes to his heals. His hands were bunched up in his hair, as he tried to calm his breathing.

David swallowed, making sure his face was an impassive mask, before he kneeled before Nathan. Immediately, the bleary blue eyes met David's.

"I...everyone...hates me...they all wish I was dead...and sometimes..." Nathan sucked in a breath, before lunging forward, burying his face in the fabric of David's uniform, his arms wrapping around the man. "Sometimes...I wish I was dead as well..."

David felt that horrible pain in his heart once again.

Nathan shouldn't have been any different from any of the other bratty students he had to deal with at Blackwell. But...when David looked in Nathan's eyes, really looked, he saw a deep and painful trauma swimming in those depths.

To be honest, when David looked at the boy, he saw himself.

He took a deep breath, pushing the boy away. Nathan was still crying, but he seemed to have calmed down quite a lot. "Sorry," he murmured, rubbing at his face.

David sighed, standing up and offering Nathan a hand up. When Nathan was once again standing, David placed his hands solidly on Nathan's shoulders.

"I'm sorry you have to go through this shit, kid, I really am," he said gruffly, though his eyes shone with sincerity. "But we're close to figuring out what the hell is going on around here. You only need to carry on a little longer-"

"And then I can rest?"

David had to look away, unable to stand the hope shining in those eyes.

"Yes. You can rest."

Nathan took a deep, shuddering breath, before stepping backwards. He straightened his back, clearing his throat, before turning to face the door.

David turned back to his desk, figuring that Nathan would let himself out. However, the boy's voice interrupted his musings, once more.

"Thank you, Mr. Madsen. Really..." Nathan laughed quietly. "You...are the only one around here that doesn't think about me as a waste of space, or just another problem on a long list...Thanks for that."

And with that, Nathan left, leaving David a complete wreck.

Though, of course, no one would be able to tell that he was so messed up about that thing. No one ever was.

 _ **A/N I have all sorts of crazy headcanons about the dynamic of all the characters, but I have a feeling that the Nathan and David Madsen dynamic is pretty accurate...anyway...**_

 _ **Thanks for reading! Please review!**_


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